ROCHESTER, N.Y. - RIT returns home to host Holy Cross for a two-game set this Friday (7:05 p.m.) and Saturday (4:05 p.m.). The Tigers remained atop the early-season Atlantic Hockey standings with a split at Air Force last Thursday and Friday, while Holy Cross earned a 7-3 win at AIC last Tuesday before falling , 6-0 at Vermont, Saturday. 
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Watch: NESN+
Stream: FloHockey.tv (Gene Battaglia, John DiTullio)
Local Audio: WITR 89.7 FM or FOX Sports 1280 AM
Web Audio: witr.rit.edu or foxsports1280.iheart.com
PxP/Color: Ed Trefzger, Scott Biggar, Matt Campbell
Live Stats: http://ritathletics.com/sidearmstats/mhockey
Twitter: @RITMHKY
 
THREE GAMES TO BE CARRIED BY NESN+
Friday's game versus Holy Cross, along with the Bentley doubleheader (Feb. 17-18) are scheduled to be broadcast on New England Sports Network Plus (NESN+). The network home of New England sports, including the NHL Boston Bruins and MLB Boston Red Sox, NESN+ is included in multiple local cable providers throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont and certain DirecTV packages. Fans can also stream NESN+ on fuboTV and DirecTV Stream. A replay of Friday's game is also scheduled for this Saturday at 10:00 a.m.

BONUS HOCKEY
All fans attending Saturday's 4:05 p.m. face-off versus Holy Cross are invited to stick around for free to watch the RIT women's game versus Syracuse, slated for a 7:35 p.m. start.
 
TIGER TRACKS
RIT earned a 4-2 victory at Air Force last Friday to bounce back from a 3-2 loss the previous night. The Tigers built a 3-0 lead with 6:05 left in the second period of Friday's win on goals by first-year forward Simon Isabelle and sophomore forwards Carter Wilkie and Tanner Andrew, before the Falcons got on the board with 47 seconds left before the second intermission. First-year forward Tyler Mahan pushed RIT back to a three-goal lead  with 8:36 left in regulation to put the game out of reach as sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone stopped a season-high 36 shots to preserve the victory.
 
Senior forward Kobe Walker opened the scoring 5:25 into Thursday's game, but Air Force scored three goals to build a 3-1 lead 1:07 into the second. Isabelle found the net with 2:47 left in the second, but Falcon goaltender Guy Blessing totaled 29 saves, including all 15 he saw in the third period to hold off the Tigers. Junior goaltender Kolby Matthews finished the game with 17 saves as RIT out-shot Air Force, 31-20. 
 
IT'S EARLY, BUT...
RIT currently ranks fifth nationally and first in Atlantic Hockey with 4.00 goals per game as well as seventh in the country/first in the AHA killing 88.9 percent (24-27) of its penalties. The Tigers also entered the week 12th nationally in scoring margin, out-scoring their opponents by 1.17 goals per game thus far.
 
JOJO KNOWS
Senior defenseman Gianfranco Cassaro was named the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week, Monday after logging three assists in last week's Air Force series. He was credited with two assists, including on what proved to be the game-winner, in Friday's 4-2 victory after notching an assist in Thursday's 3-2 setback. After going pointless in the opening setback to Union, Cassaro has totaled seven points during a five-game point scoring streak, including two goals and five assists, and is tied for first for the Tigers and eighth in Atlantic Hockey in scoring.
 
IT'S A BIRD...IT'S A PLANE...IT'S EXTRA MAN
First-year forward Carter Wilkie is tied for second nationally with three power play goals this season. Tied for second for the Tigers in goals, all three of his tallies have been on the power play so far, already eclipsing the two he had all of last year.
 
30 FOR 30
RIT sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone notched 36 saves in last Friday's 4-2 win at Air Force for his second 30-plus save effort of the season. He also logged 32 stops to defeat visiting Army, 3-2 (Oct. 7) while finishing one short of 30 in the season-opening 4-3 setback at Union (Oct. 1). Scarfone has made at least 30 saves in 10 of his 24 career starts over the last two seasons.
 
SPREAD THE LOVE
Through four games, 16 RIT players have scored at least one point, including 13 with multiple points. Additionally, 13 of the 16 players have been credited with at least one blocked shot.
 
CRACKING THE CODY
Junior forward Cody Laskosky has scored a point in all six games to start the season, scoring a goal in the Union loss and adding an assist in all five games since.
 
LIGHT THAT LAMP
RIT has scored 25 goals through its first six games this season - tied for the highest six-game total to start a campaign during the Division I era. The Tigers also totaled 25 goals during their first six games of 2020-21.
 
MAHAN UP
First-year forward Tyler Mahan was named the Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Week (Oct. 17) after scoring three goals in the 8-5 win over Union (Oct. 15). It was the first RIT hat-trick since Will Calverley scored three goals in a 6-4 victory over visiting Mercyhurst on Jan. 28, 2021 as well as the first three-goal performance by an RIT first-year player since Andrew Rinaldi netted three in a 7-4 win over visiting Holy Cross on Nov. 1, 2019.
 
HEY, BOO
Junior defenseman Aiden Hansen-Bukata finished the Union victory with a career-high three points – all assists. Named the Atlantic Hockey Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 10, he is currently tied for first on the team and eighth in Atlantic Hockey with seven points on two goals and five assists, while blocking a team-high 13 shots thus far.
 
EIGHT IS ENOUGH
RIT'S 8-5 win over Union (Oct. 15) was its highest scoring output since earning an 8-5 victory over No. 9 Clarkson at the Gene Polisseni Center on Nov. 27, 2020.
 
EIGHT WAS ENOUGH
RIT earned its first Division I-era win over Union after going 0-7-1 in their first eight meetings, including a 4-3 road setback on Oct. 1 to open this season.
 
MILLER TIME
Tiger sophomore Evan Miller was named the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week on Oct. 3 after notching his first collegiate goal and multi-point game in the Union opener. Miller missed all but two games last season due to injury, notching an assist in his collegiate debut during RIT's season-opening 5-2 loss at Colgate (Oct. 2) and also played in the Tigers' 3-2 upset at Notre Dame (Oct. 21).
 
DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER
Before the opening loss to Union, RIT hadn't lost a game when leading after two periods since falling to Holy Cross on Jan. 31, 2020, letting a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes slip away in a 4-3 setback. The Tigers also hadn't lost a game when leading by two or more goals since giving up a 2-0 lead to Long Island University in a 4-3 loss on Dec. 11, 2020. RIT finished 10-0-1 last season when holding a lead after two periods and was also 12-1-1 when scoring first.
 
ABOUT THE CRUSADERS
Holy Cross split two games last week,  securing its first win of the season with a 7-3 road victory over four-time defending Atlantic Hockey champion AIC last Tuesday (Oct. 18). Sophomore forward Liam McLinskey had a hat-trick, while junior forward Jack Ricketts had three points on a pair of goals and an assist. Holy Cross then fell at Vermont, 6-0, on Saturday, after getting out-shot, 30-12. Ricketts leads the team with five points and three assists, while McLinskey's three goals are also a team-high. Three goaltenders have logged minutes and started at least one game this season. Junior Jason Grande has started three games, including a 24-save effort opposite AIC. First-year Louden Hogg has played a team-high 157 minutes, and made a season-high 32 saves during a 5-1 setback to visiting Sacred Heart, 5-1 (Oct. 14).
 
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
RIT is playing the 60th men's hockey season in program history. Starting as an unofficial club in 1960, the team was given a budget of $1,113.20 for the 1961-62 season and named James E. Musker the first head coach. RIT played a 14-game season (all on home ice at the former Rochester War Memorial) with a team originally comprised of over 45 members and, with the new NCAA rules, was required to purchase helmets for the team at a cost of $62.50. After one more season as a club, men's hockey became an intercollegiate sport at RIT in 1964.
 
THANKS, YOU TOO
Atlantic Hockey is also celebrating its 20th season in 2022-23. Entering its 17th season in the league, RIT is in the hunt for its fourth conference title and first since winning back-to-back crowns in 2015 and 2016. The Tigers won their first AHA Championship in 2010, before becoming the league's first (and still only) member to advance to the NCAA Frozen Four. RIT finished atop the 2006-07 regular season standings during its first season in the AHA, but was not eligible for postseason play.
 
WAYNE'S WORLD
Head Coach Wayne Wilson became the 49th NCAA men's hockey coach to hit the 400-win plateau with the 1-0 OT win at Princeton (Nov. 27) last season. Wilson currently ranks ninth among active coaches with a 413-292-77 record the last 24 seasons - all on the Tiger bench. The only coach in NCAA history to win the Spencer Penrose (D1 National COY, 2001) and the Sid Watson (D3 National COY, 2010), he totaled a 116-31-12 mark in six Division III campaigns (1999-2005) and owns a 297-261-65 record during 18 Division-I seasons.
 
BIG RED
Sophomore forward Carter Wilkie was named the Atlantic Hockey Co-Preseason Player of the Year and a member of the Preseason All-Atlantic Hockey Team. Wilkie returned after leading the Tigers with 30 points and 17 assists, while finishing second with 13 goals during his first season in Orange and Black. He also tied for second in the nation with six game-winning goals, and became just the fifth Division I player in over 10 years to notch three overtime game-winning tallies. The 2022 Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year and an AHA All-Rookie Team honoree, Wilkie landed seven conference Rookie of the Week honors a season ago, and was also named the league's Rookie of the Month on three occasions.
 
TENDER LOVING CARE
Sophomore goaltender Tommy Scarfone joined Wilkie on the AHA All-Rookie Team last winter. He finished fourth in the conference with a 2.46 goals against average as well as a .919 save percentage en route to an 8-9-1 record. Starting the final 11 games of the season, he tied a career high with 39 saves in the Tigers' 1-0 shutout of Sacred Heart in the opening game of the AHA Quarterfinals for his eighth 30-plus save outing of the season. He also logged 33 saves on three other occasions during the run, including the 4-4 tie with AIC (Feb. 5) as well as in the 4-2 win at Niagara (Feb. 18) en route to Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Week honors. Scarfone closed the regular season with 33 saves in the Tigers' 1-0 OT setback at Air force (Feb. 26).
 
GAME CHANGING VOTE
A proposal was passed last January at the NCAA Convention during the Division III Business meeting which will allow RIT to offer scholarships to its Division I men's and women's hockey student-athletes. Multi-divisional intercollegiate athletic programs like RIT, which sponsors 22 Division III teams along with two Division I hockey teams, were previously not allowed to apply all Division I legislation to its Division I teams, including the inability to award athletic grant-in-aid to its players based on a 2004 bylaw. However, with the vote overwhelmingly passing by a 388-18-39 margin, the Tigers will be on the same footing as the rest of its peers across the country with a full 18 scholarships available to each hockey team.
 
DEARLY DEPARTED
RIT graduated three of last season's top-five scorers, including Will Calverley, Dan Willett and Jake Hamacher. A Hobey Baker nominee and 2021 second-team All-American, Calverley led the Tigers with 15 goals and was second with 27 points en route to his second-straight First-Team All-Atlantic Hockey award. Hamacher was third with 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists) and tied for 10th in D1-era history with 106 points (43 goals, 63 assists). Willett finished second with 13 assists and fifth with 18 points while ranking fourth nationally with 91 blocked shots. Willett and Hamacher also finished first and second in program history with 166 and 165 games played, respectively.
 
SKY WALKER
Fifth-year Kobe Walker returned after finishing second for the 2021-22 Tigers with 11 goals, including three power-play tallies, two game-winners and two short-handed scores. In 29 appearances, the top-line right winger's 19 points ranked fourth on the squad, while his eight assists tied for the sixth-highest total on the team. A three-time Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team member, Walker entered the season with 111 appearances in an RIT sweater along with 56 career points on 28 goals and 28 assists.
 
BERRY GOOD
Fifth-year Spencer Berry is back for his final season after finishing 2021-22 as one of three Tiger defenseman who appeared in all 38 games during the season, finishing second on the team with 52 blocked shots to go along with three assists. A four-time Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team honoree, he returned this season with 88 games played and 10 career points (all assists).
 
ANDREW-BE-DO-BE-DOO
Fifth-year Andrew Petrucci played 35 games last season, notching a goal and an assist. The hard-nosed fourth-line centerman entered the season with 104 games during his RIT career, compiling 15 points on eight goals and seven assists. He is also a four-time Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team honoree.
 
GOING GONZO
Senior Elijah Gonsalves returned with 70 career games and 52 points on 20 goals and 32 assists. The 2019-20 Atlantic Hockey All-Rookie Team honoree scored better than 20 points his first two seasons and looks to bounce back after having his season cut short due to injury after 15 appearances last year. Gonsalves is a two-time Atlantic All-Academic Team honoree and was an AHCA All-American Scholar in 2020-21.
 
MORE IS BETTER
Senior Caleb Moretz entered the season with 40 points in 89 career appearances the last three seasons, including a goal and five assists playing all 38 games last winter. He was third on the team with 244 face-off wins and second with a 52.7 face-off win percentage. A three-time AHCA All-American Scholar and Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team member, Moretz also finished second among forwards on the team with 24 blocked shots.
 
PLAYOFFS. PLAYOFFS?
Atlantic Hockey adopted a new format for its 2022-23 postseason tournament -- only the top-eight of the league's 10 teams in the final regular-season standings will qualify for the playoffs and all three rounds will be hosted on campus sites. The top-seed will host the eighth seed, the second-seed will host the seventh seed, etc. in the best-of-three quarterfinals (Mar. 3-5), before the two highest remaining seeds host the two lowest remaining seeds in the best-of-three semifinals (Mar. 10-12). The highest remaining seed will then host the championship game (Mar. 18) with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
WHO'S AFRAID OF A COUPLE EXTRA MINUTES
RIT finished the 2021-22 season with a 6-1-4 record in 11 overtime games, including a 1-0 win over Sacred Heart in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament Semifinal opener.
 
MAGIC NUMBER
RIT's was 16-4-3 a season ago when holding opponents to three goals or less, including an 14-3-1 mark when holding opponents under three goals.
 
JUST LEAVE THE RED LIGHT ON NEXT TIME
RIT was credited with the fastest consecutive goals by the same team in over 24 years at the end of its 4-2 win at Niagara (Feb. 18) last season. Carter Wilkie broke a 2-2 tie with 10.4 seconds left in regulation before Will Calverley was credited with a goal with 6.9 on the clock after the Purple Eagles won the ensuing draw directly back into their own empty net. According to the NCAA record book, RIT tied the fourth-fastest pair of goals ever scored by the same team, matching UMass-Lowell's Randy LeBrasseur and Bill Dohaney's feat against Minnesota on Jan. 3, 1987. The Tiger goals were also the quickest since Nebraska-Omaha's Andrew Tortorella and Jason Cupp scored in a three-second span opposite Denver on Nov. 15, 1997. New Hampshire's John Gray scored twice in a three-second span versus Colgate on Feb. 6, 1971 for the fastest consecutive goals scored by the same player, while Colorado College's Tony Frasca and Omer Brandt hold the all-time record with goals in a two-second span against Michigan Tech on Feb. 1, 1962.
 
DO AS I SAY AND DID
Former Tigers standout Shane Madolora is back for his second season with the program as Volunteer Goalie Coach. The 2012 graduate remains the Division I-era program leader with a .932 save percentage, which is tied for 10th in NCAA history. He is also tops with a 1.97 goals against average, which remains tied for 20th in the NCAA record book. Madolora established single-season program records as a junior which still stand, leading the nation with a .935 save percentage to go along with a stingy 1.93. GAA on his way to Inside College Hockey Second-Team All-America honors and Atlantic Hockey Goaltender of the Year recognition. The following year, he tied his own record with a 1.93 GAA to go along with a .931 save percentage while tying for first nationally with a program-record seven shutouts. Madolora remains first in Tiger history (and tied for 21st in NCAA history) with 13 career shutouts, as well as fourth with 1,727 saves, fifth with 36 wins, and tied for fifth with 65 appearances. His 18-9-5 record during the 2011-12 campaign tied for the second-highest single-season win total by a Tiger, completing his RIT career with a 36-14-2 record.
 
OH, CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Five players are skating with letters on their sweaters during the 2022-23 season. Fifth-years Kobe Walker and Andrew Petrucci were elevated to co-captains after serving as alternate captains a season ago, while seniors Spencer Berry, Elijah Gonsalves and Caleb Moretz were named alternate captains.
 
TIGERS IN THE NHL
Former RIT standout defenseman Chris Tanev enters his 14th season in the NHL, spending his first 11 with the Vancouver Canucks before signing a free agent contract with the Calgary Flames prior to the 2020-21 season. Voted the 2010 AHA Rookie of the Year, Tanev made his NHL debut on Jan. 18, 2011, becoming the first RIT player to appear in an NHL contest. Entering the 2022-23 season, he has played in 652 NHL games with 30 goals and 128 assists for 158 career points. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships and was named a finalist for the NHL's Masterson Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Tanev tallied 28 points (10-18-28) and was plus-33 in 41 games for RIT in 2009-10. He and another former Tiger, Steve Pinizzotto (2005-07), were teammates with Vancouver in 2012-13. Pinizzotto tallied 57 points (20-37-57) in 54 career games for the Tigers and appeared in 36 NHL games with two goals and four assists.
 
RIT's NCAA DIVISION II/III HISTORY
RIT has made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances since 1983. RIT won the 1983 Division II National Championship before winning the Division III National Championship in 1985. The Tigers also finished as Division III runner-up in 1989, 1996 and 2001 while making semifinal appearances in 1984, 1986, 1999, and 2010. Overall, RIT was 26-15-4 in NCAA contests at the DII/III level and is 3-2 in five Division I tournament showings. The Tigers made the NCAA Tournament in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2015, and 2016.
 
FINAL FOUR FRENZY
RIT was the first team in NCAA history to reach the Frozen Four in its first postseason appearance in 2010 and was also the first Atlantic Hockey team to reach the national semifinals. RIT was one win away from duplicating that feat in 2014-15 after upsetting overall top-seed Minnesota State, 1-0, in the Midwest Region Semifinals.
 
NON-CONFERENCE, NO PROBLEM
RIT finished the non-conference portion of the 2021-22 schedule with a 4-4-0 record, tying the highest single-season win total in the Division-I era. It was also the Tigers' third-consecutive season finishing with a .500 record in non-league games after finishing 2-2-1 in 2020-21 and 4-4-0 in 2019-20.